Jonathan Weisman, deputy Washington editor and congress editor at The New York Times, spoke with UNC School of Media and Journalism professor Ryan Thornburg about growing up Jewish in Atlanta, the current state of the press and the rise of bigotry in the United States on Monday.

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A lecture hall of people rise to their feet. There is a list of names, followed by a moment of silence. Kevin Guskiewicz, dean of the College of Arts and Sciences, walks to the podium.

“This event was planned months ago,” he said. “But it has become tragically, urgently relevant in light of this weekend’s events.”`

So began a community lecture at 7 p.m. in the UNC Friday Center titled "Anti-Semitism and the Jewish Experience in the South."

Planned, as Guskiewicz said, months in advance, the event fell just days after 11 people were gunned down while attending worship service at the Tree of Life synagogue in Pittsburgh, Pa.

Jonathan Weisman, deputy Washington editor and congress editor at The New York Times, spoke with UNC School of Media and Journalism professor Ryan Thornburg about growing up Jewish in Atlanta, the current state of the press and the rise of bigotry in the United States.

After linking to an anti-fascist article on his Twitter account in May 2016, Weisman himself became a target of online anti-Semitic attacks, receiving threatening messages, he told NPR in an interview. Weisman retweeted and publicized some of the attacks to call attention to the posters’ extremely harmful ideologies.

“I was so stunned – stunned by the ugliness of the anti-Semitism, and their ancientness of their sense of the Jew, that I wanted the world to see,” Weisman said. “I wanted everyone to see.”

Weisman also spoke on his sense that the Trump administration and current political climate provides “aid and comfort" to racists or bigots in America.

“All Americans need to stand up against bigotry and intolerance,” Weisman told the DTH. “And it needs to not be a partisan issue. For some reason, this has become an issue — if I’m standing up against rising hate in this country, that makes me anti-Trump (or) that makes me a Democrat, and that’s ridiculous.”

Several audience members asked questions, with some taking to the microphone to simply vent their frustration with rising levels of anti-Semitism, racism and political polarization within the country.

Chapel Hill resident Beatrice Prosnitz said she and her husband decided to attend after hearing about the lecture from friends. The pair hadn’t planned on attending the lecture prior to Saturday’s events.

“I came just to listen (and to hear) that there’s hope out there,” Prosnitz said.

Weisman emphasized his hope that recent events would inspire all marginalized groups to work together and form a coalition against intolerance and hatred in the United States.

“We have to be able to say, ‘This is not America.’” Weisman said. “‘This is not the narrative that we want to embrace.’”